16/12/12 - 22/12/12

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Parliament at Work

Work of the Parliament

All members of Parliament are elected. Each one of the 150 members of the House of Representatives (MPs) is elected by about 85,000 voters in each electorate. Senators represent states. Each state is represented by 12 senators while each territory has two senators.

The term ‘parliamentary privilege’ refers to two significant aspects of the law relating to Parliament: the privileges or immunities of the houses of the Parliament, and the powers of the houses to protect the integrity of their processes, particularly the power to punish contempts.

The government consists of members of the political party that wins an election and has the majority of members in the House of Representatives. This party and/or its leader (the Prime Minister) select fellow parliamentarians to be the ministers who run departments. Some ministers are senators.